Ruby
On his quest to gather the gems from the seven tribes of the land, Adin gained the Ralad talisman, the great '''Ruby', sixth out of the seven gems. It is a blood red gem, that pales to a soft pink in the presence of evil or misfortune. Powers The ruby pales in the presence of evil or misfortune, so can be used to be able to defend oneself from attack by an enemy. It also cures venom (though The Belt of Deltora says that it only cures snake venom,but it helps jasmine recover when a dread gnome arrow stabed her hand so it just cures venom since geelik was not a snake), and drives snakes away. The Ruby has a connection to the Ruby dragons, and is able to strengthen them. History Discovery As foretold by the fortune telling stones of the Torans, fire and water wreaked havoc on the Land of Dragons. Afterward, the land gave each tribe a gift, a stone of power from the depth of the earth. The ruby was the lands gift to the Ralads. History ''The Lake of Tears'' Lief, Barda, and Jasmine, with the help of a Ralad, Manus, traveled to the the Lake of Tears to regain the second gem of their journey. When they arrived at the Lake, they found that the shores around it were all a thick mud, and that hundreds of slimy creatures lived below. The four frantically tried to drive the creatures of their bodies, until suddenly, all the creatures returned back underground. Soldeen then burst from the Lake, attempting to eat them all. The four quickly fled from the shore, and over a hill, planning on how to get the second gem from the Lake. After throwing several ideas around, they lost heart, and Lief asked Manus to play the flute. As Manus played the flute, Soldeen approached the four quietly, listening to Manus's playing. He then set up a bargain, the second gem for Manus. While Manus was willing to live the rest of his life on the Lake to play the flute for Soldeen as a slave, the other three refused, and Soldeen struck out at Lief. Lief's cloak got stuck on one of Soldeen's spikes near Soldeen's head. Soldeen calmed down almost immediately, and started to talk of a wonderful city filled with happiness. Lief discovers that the Topaz is touching Soldeen, and therefore clearing his mind. Lief explains that those visions are real, and it would be possibly to regain that happiness by giving the second gem to him. Soldeen agreed, and took him to a rock in the middle of the lake resembling a crying figure lying on its knees. On this rock the second gem, the ruby, lay. Lief took the pale, pink gem in confusion, wondering which gem it was. Then he realized that it was actually the ruby, paled to a pink. Thaegan then magically appeared in anger, and attacks Soldeen, who flays around in pain, causing Lief to lose the ruby. Thaegan is killed when Kree pecks at her little finger to stop her from casting a spell on Jasmine, causing blood to start to drop out. After Thaegan's death, the Lake of Tears returned to be the city of D'Or, and the Ralads could talk again. The slimy creatures returned to their human forms as the people of D'Or, while Soldeen becomes Nanion, the leader of D'Or. Nanion happily gives the ruby to the companions. ''The City of the Rats As the three traveled to Tom's Shop in the third book, Lief checked the ruby to see if they were in danger after Jasmine said someone was following them. Jasmine then heard a group following them, saying they were more than ordinary thieves, stopping when they would stop, and going when they would go. It turns out, the group pursuing them was the remaining eleven children of Thaegan. The Ruby was used in the third book to protect the three from Reeah, who feared it due to the ruby's ability to cure snake venom and also to drive off snakes. Dread Mountain In the fifth book, Jasmine was struck by one of the Dread Gnomes arrows, which are all covered with Gellick's deadly venom. Lief put the ruby in Jasmine's hand, while talking to the Dread Gnomes to negotiate with them. The Dread Gnomes, doubting the companions had any position to negotiate scoffed them off, saying that Jasmine was going to die soon. Jasmine then stood up, and said that she was fine. The Dread Gnomes, astounded by Jasmine's recovery allowed negotiation. ''The Valley of the Lost In the seventh book, Lief noticed that, while the Emerald had dulled, the ruby remained blood red. Confusing Lief enough for him to delve into memories to remember the verses from The Belt of Deltora. Barda discovered a fancy shell box containing letters to the royal family, and on top of them all, the letter that Endon sent, begging for refuge. The Torans, believing they were superior to the royal family now, tore the letter in half, causing the Toran Oath to be broken, forcing the Torans out of Tora, and to the Valley of the Lost. This broken vow is what caused the emerald to dull, which the ruby remained red. ''Cavern of The Fear In the beginning of the first ''Deltora Shadowlands book, soon after Lief entered his bed chambers in the palace. Lief, out of habit, checked the Belt of Deltora to make sure he was safe. However, the ruby had paled, signifying that he was in danger. Looking around his room, he could find nothing, and sat down on his bed. He then heard a clicking sound, and pushed his pillow away with his sword, revealing a deadly Plains Scorpion. ''The Isle of Illusion The Shadowlands ''Dragon's Nest ''Shadowgate'' The snakes in the snake pit was afraid of it, like Reeah in the City of Rats, and attempted to get away from it by climbing up The Masked One/Kirsten's braid. ''Isle of the Dead'' ''The Sister of the South'' Category:Gems Category:Ralads (Tribe) Category:Objects Category:Magic objects